From the age of six, when his father was elected to Congress to represent part of the City of Detroit, John Dingell was raised to understand the value of dedicated public service. Before his own election as a member of Michigan?s Congressional Delegation, Dingell worked as a Congressional employee, then as a forest ranger and a prosecuting attorney for Wayne County.
The needs of working families are Dingell?s highest priority. He has devoted his career to expanding access to affordable, quality healthcare, protecting American jobs, cleaning up our air, land and water, guarding the taxpayers? wallets by holding government bureaucrats and contractors accountable, and protecting consumers from unsafe products, unfair practices and corporate abuses.

Congressman Dingell is also a well-known advocate for senior citizens, particularly in the areas of Social Security and Medicare. Congressman Dingell recently introduced a bill to lower the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals and provide a comprehensive drug benefit under Medicare for all seniors. Since coming to Congress, John Dingell has worked to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security and has served on two commissions which examined the future of those vital programs. In each instance, he fought attempts by Republicans to privatize the programs and cut benefits.

Knowing the cyclical economic highs and lows Michigan workers face, Dingell is widely recognized for his ability to resolve complex issues that achieve balanced results. One notable example is the 1990 Clean Air Act which is credited with giving America the cleanest air of any industrialized nation while also protecting American competitiveness.

Having raised teenagers as a single father, Dingell knows first hand the difficulty of stretching a household budget and balancing the needs of family and career. Earlier this year, he joined Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in releasing a widely published report detailing pay disparities women face in the workplace which affect their abilities as wage earners and parents to succeed in today?s economy.

In the current Congress, Dingell led successful efforts to stop the Bush Administration from allowing higher arsenic levels in drinking water and from cutting funds to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes. As an author of the "polluter pays" law requiring federal agencies to prevent and clean up pollution, he is fighting efforts by the Defense Department to exempt itself from environmental laws. As a World War II veteran, Dingell did not hesitate to tell the Secretary of Defense he would fight to prevent needless pollution and wildlife endangerment at military bases.

The Democratic women?s group Emily?s List recently recognized Dingell as one the most powerful Members of Congress. This view is echoed by countless leaders in government, industry and the news media who have witnessed his passionate fights as a leader in Congress, a Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, an oversight watchdog, and a community advocate for Dearborn, Downriver, Monroe and all of metropolitan Detroit.

Dingell was the first to take on Governor Engler when he tried to divert federal road funds from our communities, and he led efforts in Congress to get hundreds of millions more in road dollars for Michigan. He worked with officials in Wayne and Washtenaw Counties to save local taxpayers more than $350 million of the cost to stop pollution of the Rouge River. Dingell wrote the bill that created the Automobile National Heritage Area as part of the National Park Service. Last year, he fulfilled his environmental vision for the Detroit River by writing the law creating our nation?s first international wildlife refuge, which will save thousands of acres of wetlands on both sides of the river and restore river access for family recreational activities.

Michigan?s community leaders know they have a Congressman they can count on to secure federal funding, resolve conflicts with federal agencies, and pass helpful legislation when they need it. To facilitate regional cooperation, Dingell for many years hosted local government and education issues conferences in Michigan and Washington, D.C. In 1999, he established the Downriver Summit, where public officials and non-governmental leaders gather each spring to help set development, regional cooperation and smart growth priorities.

As an avid outdoorsman with years of hunting and fishing experience, Dingell spends as much time as possible outdoors and knows well the conservation opportunities and recreational potential of our region. He is the longest serving member of the federal Migratory Bird Conservation Commission and attends many community meetings to discuss local issues, including wetlands preservation, drinking water quality, and the building of linked recreational greenways.

Dingell and his wife, Debbie, own their home in west Dearborn and both commute weekly for job responsibilities in Michigan and Washington. Dingell has two sons and two daughters, as well as three grandchildren

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